Tiny Surprises
by ColieMacKenzie
Summary: Kate Beckett makes a surprising discovery. How will it impact her and Castle's life? COMPLETE.


**Tiny Surprises**

**AN: **Set in the current Castle timeline (roughly mid-season four, roughly around the time of episode 4x10, "Cuffed.

For this story, I am respectfully borrowing a few lines from an episode of the great TV show JAG. It is a snippet of dialog that had been immensely important in the progression of the ship on that show. The idea entailed seemed worthy of exploring for Castle and Beckett also, so here I am exploring. I hope I'm doing it justice!

I am referencing the exact dialog and its episode in an author's note at the end of the story. This is NOT a crossover.

Thank you to my wonderful wife for helping and proofreading.

_**This story is dedicated to all the JAG fans out there, the die-hard shippers, with a special thanks to all of you who have followed my writing from that fandom to this one. This means so much to me! Thank you!**_

* * *

><p><strong>Tiny Surprises<strong>

"Freeze!"

The suspect lifted his hands in defeat.

"Marcus Grenier, you are under arrest for the murder of Margaret Gothard." Weapon still drawn, Detective Kate Beckett stepped closer while reaching behind her back for her handcuffs. But the fight had gone out of him now, and she could slap on the handcuffs without further incident.

Ryan and Esposito were coming up behind her, and she handed their suspect over to them. Ryan started reciting the Miranda rights while they walked him to the waiting squad car.

Beckett trailed behind them, checking her phone for messages. She had texted Castle earlier, letting him know that they caught a break in yesterday's case. It was fairly open-and-shut, the evidence clearly pointing to the murderer early on, and then it was only a matter of picking him up. An acquaintance was able to reveal the suspect's favorite hang-out, a sleazy bar around the corner of 63rd Drive in Rego Park, and that's exactly where Marcus Grenier was still slumped on a stool at 5:30 a.m. this morning.

When he became aware of their approach, he had tried to resist arrest, running out the back door and racing through the dark narrow alleys between buildings, only to be stopped by a wire mesh fence strung between two buildings that he had not been able to climb.

Castle's text message in answer to hers told her good luck and that he'd be by the precinct later. She knew Alexis had one of her high school finals today, and she figured he wanted to be there for her in the morning before she left, making her breakfast and generally being mother-hen.

She put her phone away and strode along the alley with long, assured steps, the clicks of her heels echoing off the asphalt and along the building walls, so she almost missed the small pitiful sounds.

She stopped in her tracks, trying to listen whether she'd misheard or if the noise would continue. There it was again, sort of … mewling. Kittens, maybe? She followed the direction of the sounds, seeming to originate from behind a dumpster on her left. It was louder, and it sounded more like… crying? She hurried her steps.

"Oh my God!"

The baby was tiny, its cries pitiful and low. She was lying in an old worn-out wicker basket, but was wrapped in a pink snuggly blanket that looked new. Her little hands were sticking out of the blanket; the tiny fingers fisted together, her arms helplessly jerking along with her cries.

Kate bent down and lifted the baby up into her arms. It was not a very cold morning but she was still worried about the little body getting hypothermic, so she put the baby against her chest and wrapped the front flaps of her coat around her. Holding the little one close with one arm, she fished her phone out of her coat pocket with the other, calling Esposito to come join her.

* * *

><p>One coffee in each hand, Castle bounced on the balls of his feet during the ride up the elevator, trying to envision what Beckett might be wearing today. In a completely non-sleazy, writer trying to figure out his character kind of way, of course. He was not at all prepared for what he saw when those elevator doors opened. He almost dropped the coffees.<p>

"Beckett?"

There she was, grey slacks, light sweater, her wavy hair cascading down her back, softly framing her face, beautiful and regal… And holding a baby?

She turned when she heard him call her name, and the smile on her face took his breath away. He'd never seen her look quite like that before. Soft, and a little stunned and disbelieving, but warm and touched nevertheless. Serene. He's imagined her looking like that before, in a situation she was nowhere near ready for, and his mouth went dry.

"Castle, hey," she greeted him quietly, and he could finally get his legs to move, to walk toward her.

The baby's head was on Kate's shoulder, with a pink blanket wrapped around the rest of the little body. Kate was holding her against her chest with one arm, while she softly padded the baby's back with her other hand.

This was, by far, the most beautiful sight he had ever seen in his life.

He was staring at her, and her heart started beating wildly when he came closer.

"Kate," he whispered once he had reached her, standing in front of her. His hand lifted and her eyes almost fluttered closed, almost expecting his hand on her cheek, and for a moment she could see everything written on his face, and there was such unmitigated longing in his eyes that her knees threatened to buckle.

And then he caught himself and his hand reached over, carefully stroking the dark, downy hair on baby's head.

"And who is this little princess?" His large hand was dwarfing the little head, but his touch was tender, almost reverent.

"I found her this morning after I apprehended our suspect. Abandoned in an alley, like trash behind a dumpster!" Waves of anger still swept over her whenever she thinks of this beautiful little baby left to die. As if sensing her distress, the infant got restless, started moving in her sleep, so Beckett took a few deep, calming breaths and rubbed her hand gently up and down the small back.

"Does she have a name?"

"No," Kate sighed. "And you can't name her!" She looked at Castle sternly, cutting off his likely reply.

"We can't get too attached," she continued, softer now, looking at the baby's face. "We'll have to hand her over to Child Protective Services."

"Did you speak with them yet?"

"Yes, I've called it in. They said they are trying to set something up for her quickly and that they'd be in touch again. I guess they assume she's safe with us police folk until then." She smiled and looked up at Castle again, slightly bouncing her body up and down in a comforting movement, purely on instinct.

"Is she okay?"

"Lanie had a look at her. She is healthy; no drug exposure and she was only a little chilled but warmed up fast once we held her. She likely was not outside for very long. She can't be more than a few days old; her umbilical cord is still fairly fresh."

She was quiet then; simply watched the baby sleep.

"Beautiful," he murmured reverently, and when she looked up at him, she saw that it wasn't the baby he was looking at.

* * *

><p>"Yo, Beckett." Esposito's words crackled through the silence between them, startling her. "Got CPS on the phone for you."<p>

"Thanks, Esposito. Put them through to my desk." She carefully sat down, baby still against her chest.

"Beckett."

He watched her, listening to her side of the phone conversation. "Yes… Okay… Are you serious?... But how… We don't have anything for her!" She exclaimed. Then she sighed, nodded again. "I see… Yes, we can do that… Let me know. Thank you." She hung up the phone and sighed again.

"They need us to keep her here for the day," she answered his unasked question. "They are lining up a foster family for her but it is taking more time, and all their spaces for newborns are filled." She lifted her free hand, making an air quote. "Surely you can help us out, Detective Beckett," she recited, "and where would she be safer than with our city's finest, the Police?"

"She'll be fine," Castle said, looking at her. "You're great with little Matilda."

"Her name is _not_ Matilda," she chided, but she couldn't stop the small smile on her lips. She touched her fingertips to the top of the baby's head, caressing her scalp. "We'll need to get some stuff for her…"

"I've got it Beckett," he jumped up from his chair eagerly. "Don't worry about a thing. I'll be back in an hour!" And gone he was, rushing out of the precinct without her being able to stop him.

* * *

><p>When he came back, his arms were packed!<p>

Kate had been pacing around her desk, trying to calm down the little girl, who was fidgeting and crying pitifully in her arm. She didn't even have a pacifier, and she had the little one suckling her knuckle. "Did you bring food?" She called out as soon as he stepped off the elevator.

"Of course," he called back, dropping the bags. "And diapers and everything…" He bent to take out some supplies and hurried to the break room. "I'll have some formula for her in a couple of minutes."

She looked after him, thankful for his help. He had done this before, whereas she felt totally out of her element. She had some experience with babies, but usually, their parents were around as well.

She followed him to the break room, thinking it might be a quieter place for the baby to feed. He handed her a bottle and she sat down on the couch, adjusting the girl in her arm and placing the nipple in the baby's mouth. She started suckling eagerly, and Kate relaxed against the back of the couch.

"You're staring at me again," she said after a few minutes, clearly aware of Castle leaning against the counter, watching her feed the baby. It made her nervous, and her cheeks felt heated. The moment felt far more intimate than she was prepared for.

"This is a unique research opportunity," he quipped. "I'm not going to let that pass me by!"

"Why, is Rook going to knock up Nikki any time soon?" She looked up at him, teasing in her voice.

He pushed himself off the counter and walked over to her. He reached for her, took hold of her chin with his thumb and index finger and tilted her head up so she'd be looking up at him.

"If Nikki and Rook have a baby," he emphasized, "it will be consensual and _entirely_ on purpose." He let his fingers slide across her cheek for a moment, and her breath caught in her throat. Then he stepped back.

"I'll get Amelia's diapers."

"Her name is _not_ Amelia!" She called after him when she could find her voice again.

* * *

><p>"Castle, what is all this stuff?" She dug through his bags, unearthing several changes of clothing, infant toys, and even a blue and pink baby bouncer.<p>

"Most of it is from Alexis," he answered, looking over her shoulder while he held the baby. "I kept most of her things, I was always hoping for… "

She looked up at him, but he trailed off, not finishing his thought.

"Anyway, I only bought her food and diapers and a few essentials."

She took the baby bouncer and set it up next to her desk. Then she looked at Castle again, and her heart melted watching him, clearly enamored with the little girl. He cradled her softly, and hummed to her while he slowly moved around. Her eyes were slowly slipping closed.

"You want to hold her for a while longer?" She asked, and he nodded.

"Oh yes…" he sing-songed, caressing the baby's back. "Little Luisa can stay right here…"

_Luisa_…

* * *

><p>The baby spent the day alternately on Beckett's or Castle's chest. Sometimes she'd sleep in the bouncer, but when she got restless one of them would snuggle her close, trying to make her feel as safe and secure as possible. All things considered, the girl was doing very well.<p>

It was around quarter to seven in the evening when the social worker from CPS showed up. They had just changed and fed the baby again, and Kate had her cradled against her, softly singing a lullaby.

"Detective Beckett? I'm Belinda Gardner with Child Protective Services. I'm here to pick up the infant."

Kate looked sharply at the woman's matter-of-fact tone, but there was warmth and compassion in her eyes.

"Yeah, this is…" _Luisa_. "The baby." She shifted closer, and Ms. Gardner reached out, placed her hand on the girl's back. Kate worried her lip.

"Where will she go?"

"We have a nice foster family for her," Ms. Gardner assured her. "They have a small house in upstate New York. No other children. They've been waiting to adopt for a long time, and there is a good chance that she will get to stay with them."

Kate nodded, but made no movement to hand over the baby.

Ms. Gardner had seen this before. "I'll give you a minute," and stepped back.

Castle came up behind her, placing his hand on Kate's lower back. "Kate…"

"She is beautiful, isn't she?"

"Yes she is."

"She'll have a good life, won't she?" She knew she was asking for guarantees when there weren't any.

"We can keep tabs, make sure that she does," he suggested, and she nodded.

"Okay."

Ms. Gardner stepped closer again, and Beckett carefully lifted the girl off her chest. The social worker placed her in the infant carrier she had brought along, and strapped her in.

"Thank you for your help today, Detective Beckett. Mr. Castle." She lifted the carrier and started walking toward the elevator.

"Ms. Gardner!" Beckett called out. The social worker turned back.

"Could you tell them… I mean, there's no obligation, but please… let them know that we called her Luisa?"

Ms. Gardner smiled and nodded. "Of course. Good night Detective."

And then they were gone.

Kate turned around, grabbed her coat off the back of her chair, and walked toward the elevator.

"Beckett!" Castle called after her, but she didn't stop.

"I'm going home Castle." He knew she tried to suppress it but he still heard the wobble in her voice.

* * *

><p>The knock came around nine that night and she didn't need to look through her peephole to know who it was. She wiped the tears off her cheeks and opened the door.<p>

"Castle."

He'd brought her flowers again, a colorful and cheerful bouquet that he held in front of him, like he needed to appease her.

She smiled at him through watery eyes and reached for the flowers. "Thank you." Then she stepped to the side. "Come on in."

He took off his coat, hung it up on the coat rack, while she headed toward her kitchen for a vase.

"Are you okay?"

So much for hoping he wouldn't notice that she'd been crying.

"I'm fine Castle." She sounded exasperated. Grabbing the vase, she carried the flowers into her living room and put them on the table. The she dropped down on her couch.

"I miss her too," he admitted.

"I only had her for twelve hours!" She exclaimed. And then, to her own chagrin, she started crying again.

Castle sat down next to her, reached for her hand and entwined his fingers with hers.

"I was in love with Alexis in 12 seconds."

"But that was your daughter!"

"Genetics has little to do with it with these little ones sometimes. They have magic powers!" He laughed a little, and it made her smile, just a tiny bit.

They were quiet for a long moment, the silence only interrupted by an occasional sniffle as Beckett tried to pull herself together.

He handed her a handkerchief. Who still has cloth handkerchiefs in this day and age? She felt strangely comforted and wiped her eyes. He was never going to get the mascara stains out of it again, she inanely thought.

"Kate?" She startled when he used her given name, and looked at him. "Do you want a baby?"

What? Her heart startled for a beat, then started racing. He looked so earnest. "I mean, some day," he clarified.

"I don't know… I always thought I did." She crumpled the handkerchief in her hands, smoothed it out again. "But with my job…" she trailed off. But then she remembered the feel of Luisa against her chest, her warm weight and her baby smell, and the freight train of feelings and emotions that she had not had the power to stop.

"Yes," she admitted, looking at him. "I do want a baby, some day. But at this pace, who knows if that will ever happen… My biological clock is going off and I keep hitting the snooze button."

Castle stared at her, his heart thundering in his chest. He'd never loved anybody the way that he loved her, so heated and all consuming. He wanted to give her whatever she wanted, lay the entire world at her feet. He wanted to be the one who gave her this baby, he thought possessively, wanted to be the only one she'd ever consider having a baby with. He wanted to be her family so very badly, and these thoughts, all his love for her was trying to burst out of his chest and pour over her in all its overwhelming intensity, but he couldn't tell her any of that, not yet.

"Tell you what," he began carefully, and her eyes were wide, still a bit watery, but she was holding his gaze. This might be the most honest moment they've had so far between them, and he was praying that he was not going to crash and burn with this crazy idea.

"Five years from now, if neither of us is in a relationship, we go halves on a kid."

"You and me, have a baby together?"

"Yeah, with your looks and my brains, he'll be perfect!" Trying to inject some levity usually worked with her, and so he was teasing a little, when really he had always imagined their baby to be exactly like her, a mini version of Kate.

"And what if _she_ has your looks and my brains?" She was teasing right back, and he was feeling a little smug that he knew she'd respond to that, especially the part about her brain. But he needed to make sure she knew he was serious.

"That could work too." He paused; hope welling up in his chest because she hadn't shot him down yet. He stroked his thumb along the back of her hand. "What do you say?"

She turned away, stared at the flowers he had brought her while she pulled her lip between her teeth, and he knew she was thinking. He felt like he couldn't breathe. Then she must've made her decision because she turned around swiftly, and squeezed his hand that was still holding hers.

"Promise you'll be there?" And he knew what she was asking.

"Always."

* * *

><p><strong><em>EPILOG<em>**

"Auntie Katie!" The little blonde whirlwind came racing toward her, jumping up into her arms.

"Lulu," Kate whispered against the girl's hair, holding her close for a long hug. Luisa put her little hands against Kate's cheeks, and leaned forward for a kiss. Then she slid her nose back and forth against Kate's nose in an Eskimo kiss, which had been their customary greeting for quite some time. "I've missed you Auntie Katie."

"I've missed you too Baby girl," Kate assured her, then let the girl slide down toward the floor again. Only now did Luisa notice the obstruction in her way.

"Auntie Katie why is your belly so big?" She exclaimed. In the background, she noticed Luisa's dad laughing, and they shared a smile.

Kate crouched down so she'd be on eye level with Luisa. She took the girl's hand and placed it on her stomach. "I am going to have a baby," she explained matter-of-factly.

"Ooooh," Luisa's eyes grew wide, and she padded the firm texture of Kate's tummy curiously.

"Daddy told me that babies grow in mommy's tummies. Except me, I grew in someone else's tummy, and I was given to my two daddies because they _really_ needed a special little girl like me," she explained earnestly what she had been told.

"Yes that's right," Kate nodded, smiling, "and that's how Uncle Rick and I met you, when you were just a tiny baby. We got to keep you safe and then give you to your daddies." Luisa nodded. It was a shortened version, cleaned up for a little girl who did not yet need to know the sad details of her first days.

"Don't I get a Hello?" Castle piped up from behind her, growing playfully impatient.

"Uncle Rick!" Luisa exclaimed, a big happy smile on her face, and then she flew into his arms for a big hug. "Are you growing a baby in your tummy too?" She asked with big eyes, poking her sock-clad toe against Castle's stomach.

Kate snorted and Castle blushed a little bit. Yes he did put on some extra padding during the pregnancy, claiming he got Kate's cravings right along with her. But he had already started a workout regimen to slim down again.

"No Sweetie, I am the baby's daddy. So I get all the food too!" He looked up at Kate and wiggled his eyebrows.

Now it was her turn to blush so she narrowed her eyes at him. But then he smiled at her with so much love in his eyes that heat flared in her midsection and she could do nothing but smile back at this silly, wonderful man.

"So, Lulu, how old are you today?" he focused his attention on the girl again.

"I am four," she announced proudly, and held up four small fingers to his face to prove it.

Kate watched from the side as Castle and Luisa were chattering away intently, and she couldn't wait to see Rick connect with their baby once she was born. Baby moved as if she had heard her thoughts, and Kate smiled. She had always known he was a great father.

In the end, it hadn't taken them five years after all.

_FIN_

* * *

><p><strong>AN:<strong> The dialog I borrowed is from season 4, episode 23 of JAG, called "Yeah Baby":

Sarah (Mac) McKenzie: Yeah that's right. My biological clock is going off and I keep hitting the snooze button.

Harmon (Harm) Rabb Jr.: Tell you what... five years from now, if neither of us is in a relationship, we'll go halves on a kid.

Mac: You and me? Have a baby together?

Harm: Yeah, with your looks and my brains... he'll be... perfect.

Mac: And what if she has your looks and my brains?

Harm: That could work too. So what do you say? Deal?

Mac: Don't make a promise you can't keep.

Harm: I haven't yet.

[_Mac and Harm shake hands_]

I changed it at the end. The "promise" part was uniquely Harm and Mac; Castle and Beckett needed an "always."

**I'd love to hear your thoughts!**


End file.
